Lawrence Howard
The Armchair Adventurer Series
In the beginning, there was Shackleton, the first in Lawrence Howard's Armchair Adventurer Series. Then there was Mawson's Mettle, followed by Polar Opposites, which will soon be available on CD.
2012: Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare,
The 1914 Voyage of The Endurance
[Click here to read Oregon Arts Watch review]
This coming January, Portland Story Theater is proud to present the return of Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare, the amazing and inspiring story of the 1914 voyage of The Endurance. Ernest Shackleton's dream of being the first to traverse the Antarctic continent became a nightmare when his valiant ship, The Endurance, was trapped in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea and crushed. The story of how he and the 27 men of the expedition survived on the ice and eventually came to safety is an epic tale of hardship and suffering; of courage, determination and fortitude.
If you missed it in 2009, or if you want to see it again, you are in luck.
Available on audio CD (Double). $16 +shipping/handling. Email Lawrence and let him know you want a copy.
2011: Polar Opposites: Amundsen, Scott, and the Race For The Pole
Polar Opposites is a tale that recounts heroic and tragic events in Antarctica one hundred years ago.
Scott and his four companions fought their way to the Pole only to find
the Norwegian flag flying there: Amundsen had beaten him by five weeks.
Crushed by disappointment, utterly exhausted and short on food and fuel,
Scott and his companions froze and starved to death on the return journey,
just eleven miles from a huge cache of provisions and supplies. This a
tale of the agony and the ecstasy, of accomplishment and failure, of a
glorious victory overshadowed by an even more glorious defeat. Hailed as
"the Homer of Portland," Howard holds audiences "entranced from start to finish"
(Wattenberg, The Oregonian) with his epic
tellings of true historical adventure tales.
Available on audio CD (Double). $16 +shipping/handling. Email Lawrence and let him know you want a copy.
2010: Mawson's Mettle: Alone On The Wide Shores Of The World
On January 22, 2010 Portland Story Theater's Lawrence Howard unveiled the much-anticipated sequel
to last-year's sold-out solo show, Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare.
This next chapter in the Armchair Adventurer Series is called Mawson's Mettle; Alone On The Wide Shores
Of The World and was part of Portland's Fertile Ground Theater Festival.
A veteran of one of Shackleton's earlier voyages, Mawson led an Australian expedition to the
frozen continent in 1911. Out sledging with two other men, Mawson was thrown into peril when one of the
sledges -- along with the six best dogs, most of the food and equipment, and one of his companions -- was
lost in a deep crevasse. After his second companion and the rest of the dogs died, Mawson struggled against
freezing temperatures, 80 mile-per-hour winds, loneliness, grief, illness and starvation, pulling his one
remaining sled for hundreds of miles. This is an epic story of survival and determination
and courage to rival the Shackleton saga.
Available on audio CD (Double). $16 +shipping/handling. Email Lawrence and let him know you want a copy.
2009: Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare,
The 1914 Voyage of The Endurance
[Click here to read The Oregonian's review]
In January, 2008 as part of Portland Story Theater's series of solo shows,
Lawrence told the true, epic tale of Ernest Shackleton and the British Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 to sold-out audiences. Their valiant ship,
The Endurance, was trapped in the pack ice and crushed; Shackleton and his 28 men
survived on the ice for over a year and endured incredible hardships. Lawrence reprised this show in
in January, 2009, again selling out the entire run. This is a story that is very near and
dear to Lawrence's heart, as he and his father shared a lifelong interest in the Shackleton saga.
Available on audio CD (Double). $16 +shipping/handling. Email Lawrence and let him know you want a copy.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Horowitz
Lawrence Howard has come to terms with his being Jewish.
This story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Horowitz, is all about growing up Jewish in NY.
It's about gefilte fish and chopped liver and bagels and lox. It's about fisticuffs on the Hebrew
School bus. It's about embarrassing himself at his own bar mitzvah. It's about the secret Christmas
tree. It's about rejecting and then reclaiming his heritage.
It's about the search for identity and belonging. The Adventures of Huckleberry Horowitz had SRO audiences
and premiered as part of
Portland Story Theater's
Solo Performance Festival, Singlehandedly!
Available on audio CD. $10 +shipping/handling. Email Lawrence and let him know you want a copy.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Howard
The Adventures of Huckleberry Howard is a trilogy of inter-connected coming of age tales about bullies, and brothers, and breaking away. This program
includes three of Lawrence's most popular stories: In The Belly of The Beast, Night Blues, and Into The West,
with a little harmonica music and a few dirty limericks thrown in for good measure.
Available on audio CD. $10 +shipping/handling. Email Lawrence and let him know you want a copy.
The Devil and Daniel Webster [Click here to read The Oregonian's review]
Lawrence Howard is a storyteller, a workshop leader, a nice Jewish boy, an honorary Italian, a polar historian and a lover of rhyming poetry. He can't remember a time when he did not love Stephen Vincent Benét's The Devil and Daniel Webster. It's a story about hard luck, hard times, and a struggling farmer who makes a deal with the Devil. But he only has ten years and they fly by like hours. Before he knows it, Mr. Scratch is a'knockin at the door, ready to collect. Benét's 1937 version of the classic Faust story is a curious combination of history, courtroom drama, and old-fashioned American tall tale. It's an everyman story, about the trials and tribulations of just being human. Told with permission of Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency, Inc. as part of Portland Story Theater's 2010 Production, Devilishly Good.